El Nino: Nakuru's painful history with the dreaded El Nino rains
Nakuru residents protect themselves from the rains in Nakuru city centre.
Nakuru county for the better half of the year has been experiencing adverse effects of famine and drought.
In a recent interview with one of the local dailies, Nakuru County Commissioner Gilbert Kitiyo said that more than 70,000 people in low-income settlements and semi-arid areas of the county were in need of relief food.
At that time, the county convened a County Steering committee in partnership with Governor Susan Kihika to help come up with a plan that would ensure all those suffering from the drought would get food aid.
This is enough to show that even the county which has been described as the food basket of Kenya was indeed feeling the pinch.
Fast forward to the end of last month and the Kenya Meteorological Department warns that there are high chances the country may experience El Nino rains as from October to December.
In the report by the Kenya Meteorological Department, Nakuru was listed as one of the areas that would experience these heavy continuous rains.
The last major El Nino rains that rocked the country to the core lasted between May 1997 and February 1998.
At the time, this was one of the worst disasters ever to be recorded. Loss of close to 2000 lives, landslides and death of livestock was also recorded in the hundreds of thousands.
In Nakuru, farmers in Rongai who had planted wheat experienced heavy losses as they were unable to harvest the wheat that was in the farms.
It was reported that the combine harvesters could not get to the farms due to the muddy grounds which left the ground sticky forcing the farmers to stand helplessly, watching their produce go to waste.
In low income areas such as Mwariki, Bondeni and Flamingo there were cases of flooding which led to bursting of drainages and sewer systems, bringing with it numerous water borne diseases.
James Wakibia, an environmental activist in Nakuru says that indeed the El Nino phenomenon is a serious matter adding that the County government should find ways to combat the dire effects it may bring along.
“The first part of the year has been characterized by severe drought and these coming rains no matter how harsh they are can still serve as a blessing in disguise,” he said.
The picture painted above isn’t pleasant, but for people who have been through a drought to the point of starving to death the terms being offered by the rains may seem to be very pleasant.
Tomorrow: Families in flood prone areas within Nakuru city speak as county government highlights its preparations